I love lots of things, but my shortlist includes my hubby, family/friends/dog Pucci, shoes, animal prints, and cake.  Seriously, there are few cakes I have encountered in my life that I have not devoured and loved.  Frozen Sarah Lee cakes as a kid, mom’s homemade apple cake, fancy restaurant chocolate cake… you get it.  So now that I’m gluten-free, my cake eating is limited to basically cake I make myself.  And too much cake = too much muffin top.  Since summer is around the corner (actually it’s here already in Scottsdale), I better make a figure-friendly cake without fatty oils and butters like this strawberry cake.  With this cake, I get to indulge in its berry cakey goodness without the guilt of say a cake from anywhere else.

This recipe is adapted from the muffin recipe on the back of Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix bag and is super easy to make.  Important note: do not over mix the batter or you will end up with strawberry bricks.  Be really delicate with the batter and only stir until ingredients are just combined.

I layered the strawberries between the batter but if you don’t feel like it, you can just mix the berries in the with batter and bake in the pan – it’s equally delicious and cuts down the prep time.  And you can make this cake with any berries you like or even throw in some nuts for a little protein and crunch.